“Stitched together with love, this is a story just waiting for your favorite reading chair. With her signature style and skill, Susan Wiggs delivers an intricate patchwork of old wounds and new beginnings, romance and the healing power of friendship, wrapped in a lovely little community that’s hiding a few secrets of its own.” — Lisa Wingate, New York Times Bestselling author of Before We Were … author of Before We Were Yours
The #1 New York Times bestselling author brings us her most ambitious and provocative work yet—a searing and timely novel that explores the most volatile issue of our time—domestic violence.
At the break of dawn, Caroline Shelby rolls into Oysterville, Washington, a tiny hamlet at the edge of the raging Pacific.
She’s come home.
Home to a place she thought she’d left forever, home of her heart and memories, but not her future. Ten years ago, Caroline launched a career in the glamorous fashion world of Manhattan. But her success in New York imploded on a wave of scandal and tragedy, forcing her to flee to the only safe place she knows.
And in the backseat of Caroline’s car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment—five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She’s now their legal guardian—a role she’s not sure she’s ready for.
But the Oysterville she left behind has changed. Her siblings have their own complicated lives and her aging parents are hoping to pass on their thriving seafood restaurant to the next generation. And there’s Will Jensen, a decorated Navy SEAL who’s also returned home after being wounded overseas. Will and Caroline were forever friends as children, with the promise of something more . . . until he fell in love with Sierra, Caroline’s best friend and the most beautiful girl in town. With her modeling jobs drying up, Sierra, too, is on the cusp of reinventing herself.
Caroline returns to her favorite place: the sewing shop owned by Mrs. Lindy Bloom, the woman who inspired her and taught her to sew. There she discovers that even in an idyllic beach town, there are women living with the deepest of secrets. Thus begins the Oysterville Sewing Circle—where women can join forces to support each other through the troubles they keep hidden.
Yet just as Caroline regains her creativity and fighting spirit, and the children begin to heal from their loss, an unexpected challenge tests her courage and her heart. This time, though, Caroline is not going to run away. She’s going to stand and fight for everything—and everyone—she loves.
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Good book about an important topic
I love any book by Susan Wiggs
The simplicity used to change the world by observing your own community for heartaches and then reaching out to help was thrown down as a gauntlet by the author to all of us. The reader is not challenged but is inspired.
Thoughtful and informative on a subject that should be aired more
often. Susan Wiggs has written another best seller.
Always enjoy her books!
What an enjoyable book. This is one I didn’t want to put down. Loved it and highly recommend.
Susan Wiggs is truly an inspired writer! I don’t know of any book of hers I have read that I have not enjoyed. Though the topic of this one is pretty deep Ms. Wiggs handles the matter with great care and compassion, bringing all the characters alive. In some respects you can’t help but feel what they are feeling and hoping and praying for them as if they were real people in your life. As always, I look forward to the next book and hope it comes out soon 🙂
4.5 stars
As much as I love this author, I just realized this is the first book I’ve read of hers that is not part of her Lakeshore Chronicles series. I have many of her stories on my TBR list, but haven’t gotten to them as of yet. I’ll have to remedy that. Susan Wiggs is such an insightful writer.
Before I get started on the meat and potatoes of this review, I want to give a trigger warning. In case you don’t get what’s being laid down in the description of this book, this story deals with abuse. Different types of abuse, so I’m just giving a blanket warning to those sensitive to such subjects.
That being said, the author handles these very touchy subjects with care and compassion. The reader learns some hard truths right along with the heroine Caroline. We get to see the subject of abuse from a lot of different sides and, hopefully, learn how to help those around us in the process.
Do my first few paragraphs make this book seem dry and boring? Because it’s not. There is joy along with the sadness. There is a remembering of those feelings of young love and first love. Of heartbreak and healing. This story gives so much power to the women and doesn’t judge their circumstances or their choices. It is the perfect book for any time, but especially relevant in our current culture of strong women and holding people accountable for their actions.
The main part of this story is Caroline’s. She was always the oddball of her family and even her small town. She was always loved and accepted, but just didn’t feel like she fit in. Of course, she took off to find her true bliss as soon as high school ended. And she did quite well for herself. Quite a few unforeseen situations change things for her in a big way and she ends up back in her small-town taking care of two young children when she never wanted kids or to live the small-town life. Turns out, her hopes and dreams have changed and are continuing to change. Which is a theme throughout this book for all the characters. What one wants and dreams of at 13 is different at 20 and alters again by 30, so on and so forth. And that’s okay. That’s life. It’s what’s beautiful about life and what is scary about life…change.
A lot of Caroline’s story circles around Will. Beautiful, wonderful, kind, and thoughtful Will. Who is also totally clueless. Even as an adult, he can’t see what’s right in front of his face. Maybe that was a good thing in the past, but what about now? And, considering the place he is in his personal life, should it even matter?
Then there is Caroline’s best childhood friend (other than Will), Sierra; who I never quite figured out. But what I love is that the author still didn’t judge, even this character who I wanted to dislike but couldn’t quite fully get there. I believe that was the author’s intent. (That’s just my own guess, but I like to think she knew what she was doing with this Sierra the whole time.) I refuse to believe that young teenage Sierra was so obtuse to not discern Caroline’s feelings during that day on the beach, when Caroline’s two best friends meet for the first time. This made her unlikeable to me. And, as Sierra said herself, it’s hard to like her overly much when she’s with the perfect man in which all of her actions are judged. Will doesn’t judge, but the small town does. The perfect citizen deserves a perfect mate, right? So I was on a yo-yo with this character.
While there are many more characters, some of great importance, these three are the where all the themes of the book play out. They all have their own paths and growth and they are all so different yet the same. Just an amazing weaving of their fates.
This is an important story and I strongly urge you to pick this one up. I found the first bit to be a bit slow, but it’s an important set-up for the story. Once Caroline is firmly in Oysterville the story takes off and kept me turning the pages.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/08/the-oysterville-sewing-circle/
I really enjoyed this book. It is such a good woman’s book.
I loved this book so much I didn’t want it to end. Would love to see this be the start of a series.
Predictable but entertaining.
Loved the main characters. Great touch sharing about domestic abuse! An overlooked problem in our busy lives. Well worth reading this lovely story.
Not a typical feel- good Kristan book
This is a story about life, the good, the bad, the ugly, losses, the strength you pull from within in tough times to survive and forgiveness. It’s well done.
I read a few reviews before I wrote this. The pros and cons were far apart on their perceptions. Sometimes you have to read the book and make your own decision…
Another great story by Ms Wiggs and I loved it.
A great end to a lifetime love story. A joy to read with some moments of uncertainty. You will not be disappointed.
Wonderfully fleshed out characters with a timely story line. You care about their stories. Also the author knows the Washington peninsula and describes it with a loving touch. I recommend this book.
A wonderfully written story of a woman working hard for her dream, then having her world changed. By helping a friend, she gains more responsibility then she ever wanted. Returning home is her only option, but to her, that means failure. By helping others, she discovers she needs help herself.
This amazing story starts in the present, but tells of a woman’s life, in flashback and today’s adjustments, and growth.
At the last two chapters I turned off the TV and absorbed myself in her continuing fight for her career and her new family.
Beautifully written in Susan Wiggs’ wonderful style.
She had me at the first chapter! Who were these children? What had happened to make them drive cross country?
Loved it!
I enjoyed the book very much, also I like Susan Wiggs books
A good story, well worth reading.